Geeks Among Us: Geeked About Archeology!

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Geeks Among Us: Geeked About Archeology!

Disclaimer: Jenn and I are friends, so I wanted to have a pic of us two very geeky moms.

Jennifer Loughmiller-Newman of the University at Albany has recently made the scientific press take notice of her research with Mayan vessels. Studying containers from the Library of Congress, Jennifer matched the text on the outside of the clay vessel (which said tobacco) to what it was actually used for. She accomplished this with the latest modern techniques of chemical residue analysis. This is only the second time anyone has been able to match the glyphs with the contents, and the first time with tobacco.

I talked with Jennifer about what got her into the field of archeology. She told me about an episode of Seseme Street where Bert and Ernie found an Egyptian Pyramid, and she was inspired at five years old. Jennifer spent much of her childhood burying and digging up objects in her backyard. This is why as a mother, "It's hard to chastise my own kids for playing in the dirt." Jennifer has two children who think their mom is pretty cool because she's like Indiana Jones.

This mother and scientist is geeked about archeology because of the idea that people then and people now are so similar. "Everything you find lends itself to new interpretations of things we thought we knew about history. Ancient people are far more complex than we imagined."

Jennifer's findings open the possibility for future study of ancient vessels. The chemical analysis works. This type of research is part of the developing field of Archeometry: the science of archeology.

I asked Jennifer what she tells her kids and anyone interested in ancient people and civilizations: "Because archeology is the study of humans, you can take whatever interests you and turn it into a niche. If you have a passion, you can put it in tandem with archeology."

So let your kids be inspired by everything they see, let them play in the dirt, and who knows what they'll discover when they grow up!